Immanuel girls continue winning ways

Tuesday

Jan 29, 2013 at 2:04 PMJan 29, 2013 at 2:09 PM

The Crusaders picked up their first win in the last four years at Lee Vining.The Immanuel Christian girls basketball team scored 34 points in the first half on its way to a 54-37 win over the Tigers on Friday in Lee Vining.“We played pretty good,” ICS Coach Bob Smith said. “It was one of those grey-area games that we haven’t gotten this season. Lee Vining was fast, so we had to make adjustments on the defensive side of the basketball. We switched up from a loose 2-3 zone, to a man-to-man. We were down 6-3 early, then went on a 16-4 run to close the first quarter. From that point on, the closest Lee Vining could get was nine points.”

Brad KesterDI Sports

LEE VINING — The Crusaders picked up their first win in the last four years at Lee Vining.The Immanuel Christian girls basketball team scored 34 points in the first half on its way to a 54-37 win over the Tigers on Friday in Lee Vining.“We played pretty good,” ICS Coach Bob Smith said. “It was one of those grey-area games that we haven’t gotten this season. Lee Vining was fast, so we had to make adjustments on the defensive side of the basketball. We switched up from a loose 2-3 zone, to a man-to-man. We were down 6-3 early, then went on a 16-4 run to close the first quarter. From that point on, the closest Lee Vining could get was nine points.”Tara Henderson had another solid game for the Crusaders in the win and played an excellent first half. She had all of her 17 points in the first two frames in helping the Crusaders to a 19-point halftime lead at 34-15.“Without Tara, we wouldn’t be able to do the things we’ve done this season,” Smith said. “She really turned the corner in the last four or five games. She is shooting 50-to-55 percent and is second on our team in rebounds. It took her a while to get back her legs after mission trip, but she’s really playing well right now. Her effort is first-team all-league caliber.”Henderson also had 13 rebounds to finish the night with a solid, all-around performance.The Crusaders came out of halftime and immediately put more points on the board with Elicia Hazlewood hitting at 3-point attempt to put the lead at 22 points. Soon after, however, Hazlewood fouled out of the game, which gave the Tigers their opportunity to get back into contention.“Their coach made some good adjustments at halftime,” Smith said. “They played a box-and-1 against Jennifer (Mondragon) and that took away her driving lanes. With Elicia out, some one else had to step up.”The Crusaders were outscored 15-2 for the rest of the third frame after the 3 by Hazlewood.“I told the team that we let them get back into the game, but we still have a chance to put them away,” Smith said. “The girls came out on all cylinders in the fourth quarter and we opened up the lead again. Kassie Parsons did a nice job for us. Her minutes were really important late in the game. She was a nuisance for them under basket.”ICS finished the fourth quarter by scoring 15 points while holding Lee Vining to just seven. The Immanuel win is the team’s fifth in a row and its seventh in the last eight games.“I hope we are ranked No. 6 or No. 7 in the 5A poll,” Smith said. “I made a push for our team this weekend to be ranked. We’ll see what happens.”The Crusaders were led by Henderson’s 17 points and 13 rebounds. Mondragon had 13 points, 16 rebounds and four steals. Morgan Lieser had 11 points, six rebounds and five blocks, while Hazlewood had nine points. The Crusaders play Big Pine at 5 p.m. today at the Kerr McGee Center.